ADVERTISEMENT DISTRIBUTION APPARATUS, DISTRIBUTION METHOD, AND DISTRIBUTION PROGRAM

• US 20130346215A1
• Filed: 06/25/2013
• Published: 12/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yahoo Japan Corporation (A Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo Japan Corporation (A Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: NISHIKAWA, Hiroshi, TAJIMA, Akira, TSUKAMOTO, Koji, GOMI, Hidehito, FUJIMOTO, Taisuke
• Granted Patent: US 10,019,735 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.66
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute

Abstract

An advertisement distribution apparatus according to an embodiment includes a user information table, a determining unit, a request unit, and a distribution unit. The user information table stores user information about a user. When the advertisement distribution apparatus is accessed by a user terminal, the determining unit determines whether the user information of the user of the user terminal has been stored in the user information table. When the determining unit determines that the user information has not been stored in the storage unit, the request unit requests an information provision apparatus to transmit the user information. When the determining unit determines that the user information has not been stored in the storage unit, the distribution unit distributes advertisement content to the user terminal using the user information which is acquired from the information provision apparatus by the request unit.

Claims

1. An advertisement distribution apparatus comprising:

a storage unit that stores user information about a user;

a determining unit that determines whether the user information of a user of a user terminal has been stored in the storage unit when the advertisement distribution apparatus is accessed by the user terminal;

a request unit that requests an information provision apparatus which stores predetermined user information to transmit the user information of the user terminal when the determining unit determines that the user information has not been stored in the storage unit; and

a distribution unit that distributes advertisement content to the user terminal, using the user information which is acquired from the information provision apparatus by the request unit, when the determining unit determines that the user information has not been stored in the storage unit, and distributes the advertisement content using the user information stored in the storage unit when the determining unit determines that the user information has been stored in the storage unit.

2. The advertisement distribution apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the storage unit stores freshness information indicating freshness of the user information so as to be associated with the user information,

when the user information of the user terminal has been stored in the storage unit, the determining unit determines whether the freshness information corresponding to the user information is equal to or greater than a predetermined freshness threshold value, and

when the determining unit determines that the freshness information is less than the freshness threshold value, the request unit requests the information provision apparatus to transmit the user information.

3. The advertisement distribution apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the storage unit stores user information including a plurality of user attributes as the user information,

the determining unit determines whether the number of user attributes which are stored in the storage unit so as to correspond to the user terminal is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, and

when the determining unit determines that the number of user attributes stored in the storage unit is not equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the request unit requests the information provision apparatus to transmit the user information.

4. The advertisement distribution apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the storage unit stores user information including a plurality of user attributes as the user information,

the determining unit determines whether the number of user attributes which are stored in the storage unit so as to correspond to the user terminal is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, and

when the determining unit determines that the number of user attributes stored in the storage unit is not equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the request unit requests the information provision apparatus to transmit the user information.

5. The advertisement distribution apparatus according to claim 4,

wherein the storage unit stores the freshness information for each user attribute,

the determining unit determines whether the number of user attributes in which the freshness information is equal to or greater than the freshness threshold value among the user attributes of the user terminal stored in the storage unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, and

when the determining unit determines that the number of user attributes stored in the storage unit is not equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the request unit requests the information provision apparatus to transmit the user information.

6. The advertisement distribution apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein the request unit requests the information provision apparatus to transmit the user attribute which has not been stored in the storage unit.

7. The advertisement distribution apparatus according to claim 4,

wherein the request unit requests the information provision apparatus to transmit the user attribute which has not been stored in the storage unit.

8. The advertisement distribution apparatus according to claim 5,

wherein the request unit requests the information provision apparatus to transmit the user attribute which has not been stored in the storage unit.

9. The advertisement distribution apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a counting unit that counts the number of times the user information is acquired from the information provision apparatus by the request unit for each predetermined period,

wherein, when the user information of the user terminal has been stored in the storage unit, the determining unit determines whether the number of acquisitions counted by the counting unit is less than a predetermined acquisition number threshold value, and

when the determining unit determines that the number of acquisitions is less than the acquisition number threshold value, the request unit requests the information provision apparatus to transmit the user information.

10. The advertisement distribution apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an extracting unit that extracts candidates of the advertisement content to be distributed by the distribution unit, using the user information of the user terminal stored in the storage unit,

wherein the determining unit determines whether the advertisement content has been extracted by the extracting unit, and

when the determining unit determines that the advertisement content has not been extracted, the request unit requests the information provision apparatus to transmit the user information.

11. The advertisement distribution apparatus according to claim 10,

wherein the determining unit determines whether the number of candidates of the advertisement content extracted by the extracting unit is equal to or greater than the number of pieces of advertisement content which are determined to be distributed to the user terminal, and

when the determining unit determines that the number of candidates of the advertisement content is less than the number of pieces of advertisement content, the request unit requests the information provision apparatus to transmit the user information.

12. A distribution method that is performed by an advertisement distribution apparatus, comprising:

determining whether the user information of a user of a user terminal has been stored in a storage unit when the advertisement distribution apparatus is accessed by the user terminal, the storage unit storing user information about a user;

requesting an information provision apparatus which stores predetermined user information to transmit the user information of the user terminal when it is determined that the user information has not been stored in the storage unit in the determining; and

distributing advertisement content to the user terminal, using the user information which is acquired from the information provision apparatus in the requesting of the user information, when it is determined that the user information has not been stored in the storage unit in the determining, and distributing the advertisement content using the user information stored in the storage unit when it is determined that the user information has been stored in the storage unit.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium with an executable program stored thereon, wherein the program instructs a computer to perform:

determining whether the user information of a user of a user terminal has been stored in a storage unit when the computer is accessed by the user terminal, the storage unit storing user information about a user;

requesting an information provision apparatus which stores predetermined user information to transmit the user information of the user terminal when it is determined that the user information has not been stored in the storage unit in the determining; and

distributing advertisement content to the user terminal, using the user information which is acquired from the information provision apparatus in the requesting of the user information, when it is determined that the user information has not been stored in the storage unit in the determining, and distributing the advertisement content using the user information stored in the storage unit when it is determined that the user information has been stored in the storage unit.